Welcome

Betts & Associates is committed to providing each of our clients with top quality legal representation and achieving successful outcomes for their cases. We specialize in representing individuals and businesses in all areas of complex civil litigation matters. Our firm provides legal services with skill, strength, and integrity to residents all over the state of Georgia.

Betts and Associates offer a wide range of skills in almost all areas of the legal practice. Our commitment to growing a wide range of more discrete practice areas allows us to better assess client needs and provide prompt and effective legal solutions. Our firm was founded on the belief in providing personal service and valuable legal counsel that addresses our client's needs creatively. After a decade, that has not changed. We ensure that every client's case is carefully handled every step of the way.

If you need advice about the best way to approach and resolve your case, consider Betts & Associates. To request a legal consultation, contact our office at 404-577-8888 to schedule an appointment. We are proud to provide personal service and practical solutions for those with even the most complex legal concerns.

Articles Posted inEmployment Law

We are proud to announce that today will be day one of our new office in Rome Georgia. The address is 1900 Turner McCall Blvd SW Rome, GA 30161-3329. You can contact us at (706) 235-7575. Our new office manager Ms. Izzy Reyes will be glad to schedule an appointment to speak with an attorney over the phone or in person. Ms. Reyes is bilingual and is fully capable of handling initial correspondence in both English and Spanish. Please feel free to fax us your information using fax #: (706) 235-7590. The hours of operation for the Rome location will be Monday through Saturday from 10:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M.. We look forward to making your acquaintance and as always “Justice Matters”.

For many recent college graduates in Georgia, the path after college no longer starts with a job. Instead many find they must take unpaid internships in order to find work in their fields. Many unpaid internship programs are failing to conform to federal requirements and participants in those programs may be entitled to back wages and damages.

You might wonder why there are requirements at all. Is this an example of the federal government overreaching? Can’t people choose to volunteer to do work? Isn’t this a violation of freedom to contract? To answer these questions, we have to think historically. Before 1936 there was no federal minimum wage in the United States. This meant that people were often working for very small amounts without any assurance that the amount they were originally hired for would not be later cut. The lowest paid workers were the most vulnerable to this. When work was scarce, it resulted in a race to the bottom, with people under bidding each other, far below the amount needed to earn a decent living. President Roosevelt stated that a minimum wage would create a “minimum standard of living necessary for health, efficiency and general well-being.”

Overtime the federal minimum wage has risen to its current rate of $7.25. This is the minimum amount of money that the federal government requires employers to pay workers. Even if a worker were to say to a prospective employer “I need this job so badly that I will work for you for $7.00 per hour or even less” the employer is legally barred from contracting around the minimum hourly wage.